Salmon with Lemon Herb Butter

This salmon with lemon herb butter dish is an easy and a tasty fish dinner. The lemon herb butter is very versatile and can be used on steamed veggies too.
I like fish. I really do. But I don’t feel very confident cooking it. I make tilapia dishes (tilapia pomodoro, Mediterranean tilapia) and that’s about it. However I’m trying to slowly branch out and now I’m cooking this salmon with lemon herb butter. It’s basically a salmon filet with a pat of butter filled with lemon, herbs and garlic. My husband loved it and even took it in to work for lunch the next day. He said is was just as good for lunch as it was for dinner. So now I can cook salmon! 😉

I didn’t know how the salmon would turn out because I had bought a big piece at Costco and froze it. Actually I cut it into 4 oz servings and then froze it. I planned on eating it for lunch occasionally because I know salmon is good for you and I really like it. But one evening I was scanning the freezer trying to think of something to make for dinner. That’s when I spotted the frozen salmon and decided to give it a try. It turned out great and you would never have known it was frozen. So this is a fish dinner we will be eating regularly.

The herb butter is of course not rocket science. I used some lemon zest, basil and garlic combined with some softened butter. I don’t know why I’ve never made this before because it can be used for all kinds of things. Vegetables especially would work well with this butter. Just steam your veggies and melt a pat on top. Instant flavor booster. Plus you can make all kinds of flavor combinations using different herbs and spices. I made this version because I knew my husband would like it. After mixing the herbs and  butter in a food processor, I pressed it into a silicone mold and froze it while I was cooking the fish. Once frozen, I popped out the butter pats and kept them in the refrigerator for use in other dishes.

Salmon with Lemon Herb Butter

The salmon itself was not hard to cook either. I heated the saute pan to a medium high heat. Rubbed a bit of oil and sprinkled salt and pepper on the filets. Then I placed them skin side up and cooked for about 5 minutes. You can see a distinct line where the the fish is cooked on the bottom. I didn’t touch them and just flipped when they were about a third of the way cooked. I didn’t want to over cook them and dry it out. Over all it was about 5 minutes on each side. I let them rest for a few minutes and they continued to cook. They turned out perfectly cooked.

So if you are eating fish on Fridays or just want to add some more healthy fish into your diet, this is a simple yet tasty dish for you to try. I really like that I used frozen fish because we don’t have a good source of fresh fish nearby. I hope you like it and please drop me a line if you have any easy fish dishes you’d like to share.

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Salmon with Lemon Herb Butter

This salmon with lemon herb butter dish is an easy and a tasty fish dinner. The lemon herb butter is very versatile and can be used on steamed veggies too.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 4

Author Denise Wright (MyLifeCookbook.com)

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 4 salmon filets
• 1 stick of butter
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic
• 1 lemon tested
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil minced
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. For the salmon
2. Heat a saute pan over medium high heat.
3. Rub the oil on the filets and then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Spray your pan with cooking spray and then add your salmon filets skin side up to the hot pan.
5. Cook for about 5 minutes until you see that they are cooked about 1/3 of the way up the fish from the bottom.
6. Flip the filets and cook the other side for another 5 minutes or until almost cooked through.
7. Once cooked, set them aside for a few minutes to rest.
8. In the meantime make your butter.
9. For the butter.
10. Add soften butter, herbs, garlic, lemon juice and zest to a food processor and blend on high.
11. Scrape the butter into a silicone mold and freeze until ready to use.
12. Add a piece of the herb butter on to each filet and let melt.
13. Squeeze extra lemon over your salmon if you wish.
14. Store the extra butter in the refrigerator or freezer.